Everyday Living

Isn’t it great how we learn to be independent in everyday living? Did you know that everyday living consists of topics such as getting ready for the day and ending your day with peace?  My everyday living consists of school, finances, food, careers, transportation and health.

I start off my day by getting up in the morning ready for school. I get up at six o’clock a.m. and take a shower because I believe odor forms in the night while we are sleeping. So for me, it’s best to shower in the morning. After my shower, I get dressed, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, grab my backpack and head out the door. 

When I get to school, I get my homework done and study for tests. Once a semester, I talk to my Guidance Counselor about possible classes to graduate with a 4.0 GPA. On days that I’m not studying, I take time to find a job to do involving school. If I could get a job at school, I would want to be a teacher’s aide. At school, I eat the lunch I’ve made in the cafeteria. In my spare time, as soon as I am finished with my work, I go to the gym and workout. 

When my day at school is finished, I take the bus home. As soon as I get home, I get ready for my second job outside of school. The job that I work at is working in a public library. At that job, I help people check out books, and help them find them on the shelves. 

Before I go to bed, I have dinner. Usually, I find a recipe and cook that type of food. Whatever I cook, I eat for dinner. I enjoy cooking because when I was in middle school and high school, I learned how to cook by taking cooking classes. The food I enjoy making the most is rice, chicken, and veggies. When I am done cooking and eating, I clean my spot and the kitchen. As soon as I am done, I brush my teeth and get ready for the next day. Then I head off to bed.

         In conclusion, I now know that everyday living begins with starting my day off right. I know that when I wake up in the morning I am ready for the day. Just how do you start your everyday living?

My Experience in Monterey

My move to Monterey has been a wonderful experience for me. I’ve really enjoyed working on gaining independence by learning to take the bus.  I moved here because of educational dysfunctions at my school.

Before I came to Monterey, my mom announced that a place opened up in Carmel. The placement was a group home downtown. When Dawn, housemother of the group home and Jessica, house staff assistant visited me to tell me about the placement, I was really excited. I was ready to move in when they announced that my room in the house was ready. A few days later, they helped me move in.

When I moved in, Dawn and Jessica welcomed me. Each of the other staff and the rest of the girls also welcomed me. I’ve enjoyed spending time with the staff and the girls. I’m glad I have my own room and a place to stay. I feel like I’m living in paradise.

One week later, I was enrolled in an Adult Transition Program called “Steps.” I made a LOT of friends there and have been blessed beyond belief.  At Steps, the staff teaches us how to be independent while living on our own. A good example of this would be learning to take the Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) bus to and from places such as Del Monte Mall, Monterey Peninsula College and Century Theaters. I’m glad I’m learning to become more independent.

As soon as I was enrolled at Steps, I also enrolled and applied for Monterey Peninsula College one week later. I have really enjoyed all my classes at MPC. So far, I am taking classes such as Writing Lab with Mrs. Rozman and PFit9 for fitness. My favorite classes out of those two would be writing lab. Writing lab is my favorite class because I love to write and have wanted to take a class on writing since I was a child. Pfit9 is also my favorite class because I love to get a good workout and get in shape. I enjoy working out because even though it takes a LOT of effort, at the end of the day, it’s worth the weight. 

In writing lab, I work on learning to write essays and learn how to revise and edit my own work. So far, I’ve learned how to write different types of essays such as how-to essays, example essays and much more. When I started the class, Mrs. Rozman gave me a binder marked “Reading and Writing the Essay” to work on each day. She gave me the binder because when I started, she needed to see a sample of my writing. When she examined it, she noticed a lot of errors such as grammar, spelling and punctuation. Then she handed me a sheet marked with pretests. The pretests were to see where I was at regarding writing.  So far, I’m doing awesome in the class.

 In fitness, I work out two days a week. Two things I work on regarding the class are walking/running on the treadmill and lifting weights. On the treadmill, I speed walk at 3.0 miles per step, and continue walking at the speed of 6.0 on the incline. I do this for about 2 laps.  When I lift the weights, I start with about five pounds. Then if it feels like I’m too strong for that weight, I upgrade to eight pounds and so on.  When I started in the class, they gave me a sheet to mark which weight machines I would work out on. So far, I can lift about 174 pounds on those machines altogether. I love working out, being fit and staying in shape.

 Now that I’m living in Carmel, I’m going to a Church called Shoreline Community Church in Monterey. A friend from MPC recommended shoreline.  I tried finding a good church service to go to either during the night or on Sunday. I chose Monday night because it works with my busy schedule. My first Monday night service was awesome. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot! I’m glad my friend recommended this church.

 In conclusion, I am very glad I get to have this positive experience. I’ve enjoyed every moment of becoming more independent. I’m glad I was sent here and am really thankful I got this opportunity.

My Experience in Tennessee

My Experience in Tennessee

Even though I was still in high school, I was not getting a good enough education. When my mom told me about Tennessee, I knew it would be a great experience for me. I wondered what the purpose was behind sending me there in the first place. I found out three and a half years later.

            When I first came to The King’s Daughter’s School in Tennessee, I was very shy. Upon arrival, every staff and student welcomed me.  As soon as I was enrolled in the district, I was moved to Park Dale, which is a house on campus. Upon moving in, I learned the polite way to say my manners including ‘yes,’ ‘no ‘and how to say ma’am and sir.  

            About three months later, I was assigned a doctor for my medication. Every two months I would go for appointments. I really liked going, but hated taking my medication. Today, I still have to take them.

            During my stay there, I met my first fiancé named Bradley Hickerson. Before we got engaged, we started dating. At the school, when I dated, I was not allowed to hold hands, touch or hug him. On one occasion, I got in trouble for holding his hand while praying with him at his request. When I got in trouble, I stood in the corner and wasn’t very happy. On October 28, 2008 while in the cafeteria with him one morning, I asked him to propose. He did and this taught me a big lesson. My lesson was not to make my boyfriend propose, especially when he is not ready for marriage. A year later, we celebrated our one-year anniversary on October 28, 2009. After we celebrated, he went home for good and I felt devastated. That year, I learned that if you are single and are a Christian, the Lord is you husband.

Six months later, I moved from Park Dale to an off campus house called House 6. I moved there because my house parent announced that I had done a great job doing what was required in her house.  When I moved to the new house, I was ecstatic. On weekends, staff would take us out on community outings on Saturdays and let us stay home on Sundays unless we were going to church. Every fourth Thursday of each month, junior auxiliary ladies would come by the house and host fun activities with me and the girls. Once a year in February, they would take us out on a dinner outing and pay for the meals. We had lots of fun each month.

            My favorite experience at King’s Daughter’s was each class I took. One of the classes I took was Physical Education. In Physical Education, we would run the track or if our instructor felt like it, we would go outside and play kickball or have free time. That was my favorite class because I enjoyed learning fitness.  

             Four times a year, I would go on a home pass.  This is where the school would send me on a plane flying from Tennessee to California. On one occasion, it was my 19^th birthday. I was blowing out candles on my cake when my hair caught fire. When my mom saw the flames, she panicked, grabbed me, and began to extinguish the flames with her hands. This resulted in getting 1^st and 2^nd degree burns on my face and my hair was singed. My mom called Palo Alto Medical Foundation to explain to a doctor what happened while I waited in tears with my brother. I was surprised when she didn’t contact 911. When I returned to Tennessee, everyone was asking me if I had gone through a windshield.

            On another occasion, on November 24, 2009, my family had to go to court to conserve me. Unfortunately, my grandfather gave false testimony against my mother lying about who she was to me. He started a lot of things that could have prevented her from conserving me in the first place but didn’t. I could be conserved. Even though we won, it resulted in us having to pay a $65,000 court fee and cost us our home three years later.

In 2010, my family flew me home to Redding California for healing. On the month of Thanksgiving, I went to Bethel Church and received healing in the Healing Room. That night I went without my medication. When I returned, a new doctor put me back on the medication. I was upset! The voices went away for a little while but then came back; however, I continued to take the medication regardless of the healing. Today, I have no voices whatsoever and I still have to take them.

Last year was my final year at the school. I graduated with my class as well as a 4.0 GPA and a certificate of completion from the state. Mrs. Jesse Davis had me read a speech because I was the one with mostly A’s in all my classes. Everybody watched as I walked with my class. My family attended and was very impressed. The principal said I did my very best and so did the school. I’m glad I had a chance to graduate high school in another state.

In conclusion, I know deep in my heart that being sent to another state like Tennessee was the best experience I have ever had. I know that there was a glorious and humble purpose behind all this. I also know that without support from my family, this never would have happened.